December 7, 2018 8:11am ESTDecember 7, 2018 8:11am ESTBasketball, NBA, News, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, English, James HardenThe Houston Rockets again fell apart within the course of a quarter on Thursday, but James Harden is not worried.James Harden(Getty Images)

Ben Spratt

Published on Dec. 7, 2018

Dec. 7, 2018

James Harden insists he is "not concerned at all" about the Rockets despite another dismal quarter in defeat to the Jazz on Thursday.

On Monday, the Rockets were outscored 17-9 by the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter en route to a road loss and a 12-minute spell again cost Houston in Salt Lake City, going down 38-11 in the third as the Jazz coasted to a118-91 win.

Yet Harden says there is little to be overly worried by, saying "it happens in basketball", although he is keen for the Rockets to improve.

"I'm not concerned at all," Harden told reporters. "What would I be concerned about? It happens. It happens in basketball.

"We've got to watch the film and figure out how to get better, whether that's winning the turnovers or defensively being better. We don't know yet. I'm pretty sure it's a variety of things, though."

Asked for his analysis of the decisive third quarter, he added: "[The Jazz] got off to a really good third quarter. We didn't make shots, they made shots. We had a couple of mistakes on defense and they capitalised on them."

Houston slipped to 11-13 against Utah, but Harden is not interested in drawing comparisons to the Rockets team that finished the 2017-18 regular season as top seeds.